Draft food law could be ready by July: UN

The first draft of a long-awaited food law that aims to regulate food safety and quality “from the farm to the table” could be completed as soon as July, UN and government officials said yesterday.

Speaking at a World Health Day event, Nina Brandstrup, country representative of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said there is “a group of people who are currently working on a first draft and there is a plan to have a workshop probably in July to discuss that draft”.

“It will be the first draft and we are also hoping it will be the last draft,” she said.

But Dim Theng, lab director at CamControl, a Ministry of Commerce’s department leading research into food safety, said it could still be a long time until the law is active because “it’s not easy to go fast”.

The comments follow an outbreak of food poisoning in Siem Reap province last month at an event organised by Christian NGO World Vision, which left hundreds hospitalised.

World Vision yesterday announced that it had introduced new procedures “to reduce the risk” of such incidents being repeated.

The new process will see staff assess possible risks at events, including the type and source of food and drink, to allow “management to be able to make informed decisions” about necessary changes.

MOST VIEWED

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Friday to protest against Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, who claimed to have been gifted millions of dollars by the Australian government ahead of a special Asean summit this weekend.
An estimated 300 protesters, the majority of

An American citizen was arrested on request by the US Embassy in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, according to Cambodian police.
Major General Uk Hei Sela, chief of investigations at the Department of Immigration, identified the man as American Jan Sterling Hagen, and said he was

Updated: 5:20pm, Friday 16 March 2018
An Australian tourist and a Cambodian soldier were killed in an explosion on Thursday afternoon at an army base in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province.
The Australian, whom the government initially identified as a technical demining expert in his 40s, and

When the man passed away, he had not yet reached 50.
He belonged to a tribe that had settled near the Sangker River in Battambang province, likely cultivating the fields and raising animals. On the side, they hunted for boars, and even turtles, one of which